Broken
by pixieface Lust
Summary: It's the heart, afraid of breaking, that never takes a chance.
1. Chapter 1

Wow. New story. I owe this all to my friends who, each of them, deserve to be written about. Or at least, their situations all wrapped into one. ILY,guys. Dont let boys destroy you, now. ;) Original title "Pieces of Me" (both titles are lame. PLEASE GIVE SUGGESTIONS)

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**Broken**

_It's the heart, afraid of breaking that never takes a chance._

It was safe to say that Ino Yamanaka's heart wasn't taken care of, the way it should have been. She never felt that she was loved. She's had her heart broken more than once, and she never wants to love anyone ever again. When she was 7, her father abandoned her and her mother. When she was 12, her best friend had left the country without saying a word. And soon after, her boyfriend destroyed what was left of her aching heart.

She only had love left for her mother, who has always been there for her. Her mother was, in all actuality, her best friend. Ino didn't feel that she had to hide any secrets from her mother. They were far too great in their mother-daughter relationship that Ino felt no need to scurry away from her.

Now at 16, Ino's grown into a more mature woman who's able to handle her own monsters in this world. Or at least, convince the people around her that she can.

"Sweetie, are you ready for school?" Her mother asked.

Ino nodded, "yeah mom. Totally fine."

"Are you sure?" Her mom persisted.

"Mom. I'm good." She reassured, "Shikamaru's said he'd wait for me at the bus stop, he said he's gonna help me dissolve in the school."

Her mom smiled, "I'm glad you have faith in Shikamaru."

Ino sighed, "He's one of a few mom, I've known him since I was 6. I mean, we've always been in contact, even after years of not seeing each other…" Ino sighed remembering her bestfriend who bailed out on her.

"Well, take care, sweetheart." Her mother bid her. Ino nodded. She grabbed her messenger bag and made her way out the door.

Ino sighed as she walked one foot after the other. Her steps were heavy against the asphalt.

Whatever she did to try to cover up how she really felt, Ino always had an aura of sadness surrounding her. She tries to cover all that up with the brightest smile she could possibly muster. But in reality, she only experienced pain. Pain that was hard to get over. As much as she wanted to be happy, the sorrow from her past was too overwhelming to neglect. She tried, and of course there were benefits of success. But she only looked happy to a certain point. She was able to have people believe she was in high spirits, but she knew deep down, she was broken.

She had to deal living that way for awhile. Until everything she once knew to be so blissful could come back to her.

Deep inside, even if she doesn't know it yet, she still has hope for happier days.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Ino. How you hold in up?" Shikamaru greeted his blonde friend.

She shot him a faint smile, "I'm still standing." She chuckled. Shikamaru wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder, "Don't worry too much about it, Ins…" he tried convincing her, "if you don't want anyone to get too close just tell me." He reassured her.

"Okay." She nodded agreeing with him. Then she carefully removed his arm. "Shika. Don't get too close." She almost beg.

"I'm not leaving, Ino." He gave her a smile.

"Thanks, but I've heard that before."

Shikamaru sighed, "Okay. But just tell me when too much is going on…" he asked from her. Ino bit her lower lip, "Please?" he pried.

"Fine." She gave in.

"Good. Or else I would ask from your mom…" Shikamaru laughed.

Ino put her index finger to her chin, scrunched her lips up and looked up, "You know that could work." She began as she tapped her chin, "That's not a bad idea, Shikamaru."

"You're such a drag, you know that, Ino?"

"Now I've heard _that_ before!" she lightly laughed. _It's nice seeing her smile again, even just a little bit at a time_. Shikamaru thought.

Just then the bus pulled up and accepted Shikamaru and Ino as passengers inside. They found vacant seats and claimed them.

--

"The school's not exactly big, Ino…" Shikamaru said. The blonde rolled her eyes,

"Exactly." She said. "Dissolving in would've been a much easier task to do if it were a big school." She argued. Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, "Well, I never won an argument with you, so I wont even bother trying now…" he accepted defeat. Ino chuckled at her friend.

"Okay, we'll go get your class schedule first and then we'll base our strategies on how many classes we have together…" Shikamaru said as he got ready to fast walk to the Guidance Office.

"Strategies?" Ino raised and eyebrow and chuckled. Shikamaru saw her reaction an calmed down a bit, "Seriously, Ino…we need to get this over with, though…" he told her. The blonde and the two walked their way to the office.

"Good morning, Teresa!" Shikamaru greeted the middle-aged lady with a salute.

"Ahem." She answered sternly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and got into his usual argument with the Guidance Office lady. When they got Ino's schedule all taken care of, Shikamaru began examining the classes they had in that were the same.

"If she wasn't always cranky all the time, we could have all the same classes…" Shikamaru said softly as he continued reading through Ino's classes. The blonde silently walked beside him nodding at whatever he said. Shikamaru then came to a halt; he stopped in front of a set of lockers.

"Why are we here?" Ino asked as her feet stopped moving as well.

"Your locker, Ins." Shikamaru announced as he tapped on its steel door. "Right beside mine." The Nara beamed. Ino smiled at him, "Oh…well, that's good." He nodded.

"So…your schedule was better than I hoped, we actually have 5 classes together, which means we wont be seeing each other for just three periods." Shikamaru began explaining.

"And those five classes are…" Ino questioned as she pulled out a slip of paper from her jean pocket and tried opening her locker.

"We've got Algebra…" Shikamaru began.

_Joy_. Ino thought as her locker popped open revealing a, to her surprise, clean space. She emptied her heavy messenger bag with all her books as Shikamaru continued narrating.

"…Chemistry, Spanish, Phys Ed, and English."

When Shikamaru finished, Ino finished unpacking her bag as well and slammed her locker shut. Shikamaru jerked from his place, leaning on his lockers. "Jeez Ino, you don't have to be all jumpy." He said.

"Look who's talking." She said with a smirk. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"What classes don't I have with you?" She wondered.

"Well, you've got Art and, in which case I took Computer Science as an elective…so, that. At least we both chose Spanish…" he chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah, I was going for Italian, but they were all booked." Ino shrugged.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru said passively, "Anyway, we don't have History and Geometry together, either…"

Ino nodded, "I think I'll be able to manage that." She said with a smile.

"I know you can, Ino."

The two set off for their first class which was English class. Their English class was a combination of both Literature and Composition, so the workload wouldn't be as complicated, like if the two subjects happened to be separated.

"Shikamaru!" someone called out, "hey who do we have here?" the tone of his voice sounded implying.

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blah. there's number 2. i should plan this out already so Ino meets Sasuke.  
maybe OOC. **_r_**and**_r_**._k_thanks**bye**.

**J**_a_**e**_g_**e**_r_**j**_a_**q**_u_**e**_s_;


	3. Chapter 3

Shikamaru and Ino turned to their backs from where the voice was heard, Ino took a step back and Shikamaru just kept a lazy smile on his face.

"Choji, what's up?" Shikamaru greeted in his usual uninterested manner.

"Nothing much." The boy named Choji answered, "Well who do we have here?" he asked a goofy grin on his face.

"Oh yeah, Choji…this is my friend Ino. Ino, Choji…" Shikamaru introduced the two to each other.

"Ino…that sounds familiar…" Choji trailed off as he extended his hand to greet the blonde. Ino raised an eyebrow but went ahead and shook Choji's hand. "Oh! You're his friend from a long time ago! The one he could never answer back to!?" Choji said finally remembering Shikamaru's stories.

Ino's hand retreated from Choji's as she giggled at what the chubby boy said.

"Yeah." Shikamaru said through gritted teeth, "Her."

"So, what brings you here, Ino?" Choji asked casually, as he put out a bag of chips.

"Oh, you know…just moved back and I only remember Shikamaru, so…" Ino said shrugging. The blonde put her defense up attempting to cover up all the insecurities within her. She's getting better at doing those things. Choji nodded understanding her situation.

"Okay, I see. I see." He said. "So, you have any classes with Shikamaru?" Choji began a casual conversation.

"Yeah, 5." Shikamaru immediately interrupted, as he was staring at a wall clock, "uhh…as much as I wanna continue some small talk, Choj…we have to get going!" Shikamaru said in a hurry as he grabbed Ino's small wrist and ran along the hallways in a rush. "See ya later, buddy!" Shikamaru called as he and Ino left Choji behind. The blonde took a last glance at Choji, while running, sympathy in her expression that meant _sorry we had to leave so soon_.

"Shikamaru, where are we running off too?" Ino asked panting, as they jogged through crowded hallways.

"Our homeroom classroom isn't exactly near our lockers." Shikamaru replied as he looked back at her. Ino made a face and snatched her wrist from his hold.

"Oh, great…so we have to run like this every morning." The blonde said rolling her eyes, "I'd rather not have the same locker as you."

Shikamaru chuckled, "trust me, Ins…it's just our homeroom classroom that's far…everything else is quite a good distance." He said yet again, looking back at the blonde. She gave him a smile and nodded, that meant she trusted his word.

"Ino, we're almost there. Turn here." Shikamaru signaled to left and he dashed off. Ino followed closely behind and when she was about to turn, without her knowledge, someone was standing by, by the corner, back turned toward her. It was a highschool hallway, how could she not have expected people to be hanging around corners. Ino mentally slapped herself. But it was too late to avoid what was about to happen.

Crash and Boom.

Ino had bumped into someone by the corner of the turn. The collision had caused her to fall on the floor.

"Ow…that hurt." Ino rubbed the side of her hip.

"Woah, careful there." A young man said spinning around. Ino didn't notice the person she bumped, her eyes were shut tight. The person looked around for whoever came in collision with him. When he saw the blonde on the floor, he had an idea it was her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked extending an arm to help her. Ino was still rubbing her hip.

"Sasuke! What happened?" Another blonde yelled from behind the boys shoulder. Said person extending his hand tilted his head to face the loud blonde and grumbled, "I think she bumped me, Naruto…" he answered him.

Ino heard the noises above and in front of her, so she cracked her eyes open and looked up.

"Look! She's coming to!" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Shut up, loser!" Sasuke hissed.

"Uhm…" Ino said scratching her head.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked again.

Ino stared at the beautiful face of the man before her. She'd never seen anyone so handsome in her entire life. She couldn't help be in awe with the features beholding this boy.

Ino shook her head when she noticed she'd look like an idiot just staring at the boy, "yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Ino said dusting herself off and helping her own self get up. She stood up and came face to face with the boy. She also spotted the loud blonde behind him.

"Hey, she's my long lost twin sister!" Naruto kid.

"Excuse me?" came Ino's curt reply.

"Blonde hair, blue eyes…the resemblance." Sasuke pointed out.

"Oh…" Ino said tucking a bang behind her ear.

"I'm Sasuke, by the way…" he said extending his hand out.

"And I'm Naruto!" The loud blonde interrupted.

Ino shot them a nervous smile. Was she going to be okay if she got involved with any of these guys? Was she going to get in trouble? Were they bad news?

_Where's Shikamaru!?_ Ino screamed inside.

* * *

there. some SasuIno. r and r. this one's for the one who's always stuck by me. ;) Li, ILY.

Grimm**jo**w.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's 4. ENJOY. :) I hope the plot starts taking effect from here. r and r.

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"Okay, we're—" Shikamaru began as he looked back for Ino. But stopped mid sentence to find out she wasn't behind him like he'd thought. 'Damn! Where'd that girl go!?' He wondered.

Shikamaru decided to start tracing his steps back. _She must've gotten lost at the turn, the crowd was beyond crammed there_. He thought. So Shikamaru began walking toward the last place he saw her behind him, before the corner.

When he reached the desired place in less than 2 minutes, he saw the lost and confused face of his blonde friend. And what was she doing? Conversing with two other people!? And not just any 2 people. Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.

"I'm Sasuke, by the way…" he said extending his hand out.

"And I'm Naruto!" The loud blonde interrupted.

Ino put on a smile, and Shikamaru could tell she was nervous. The blonde wouldn't move or say anything, so that was when Shikamaru decided to step in.

"Ino! There you are!" he said relieved. When Ino didn't return his and Naruto's greeting, the raven-haired boy retreated his hand.

_Oh my God! Shikamaru, finally!_ She thought relieved as well.

"Shikamaru! I thought I was going to get lost." The blonde said acknowledging her friend.

Naruto and Sasuke now turned their attention toward Shikamaru.

"So, you know her, huh, Nara?" Sasuke asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…" he answered passively.

"Ino, this is Sasuke and Naruto…uhm, this is Ino." Shikamaru decided to introduce them, so that Ino wouldn't come off rude.

"So I see…" Sasuke answered in a suave tone.

"Well, uh, we have to get going homeroom calls." Shikamaru said in an attempt to excuse himself. He grabbed Ino's wrist and was about to go off, until Naruto interrupted their departure.

"You guys in room 308?" Naruto asked giving a nod.

"Uh, yeah." Shikamaru answered.

"So are me and Sasuke! Why don't we all go in together." Naruto suggested as he suddenly noticed the abrupt show of interest Sasuke took to Ino. Only Naruto would be able to know, since he was after all Sasuke Uchiha's best friend. The two know each other inside-out.

"Since when do we walk together?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

Ino gave a sickly sweet smile toward Shikamaru, "since you've got a new girl pal, Shika." Ino said in a sour tone.

Sasuke smirked at Ino's comment, "Aw, not so sweet I see…" he said. _I like that_. He thought.

"Thanks for the offer, but I really need to get to class early." Ino said, "Sorry for bumping in to you…" with that, Shikamaru and Ino walked off to their homeroom classroom. They'd be expecting Sasuke and Naruto in there after a few minutes.

"So, bastard, what do you have in mind?" Naruto asked his best friend.

"I'm starting to like the new girl…" Sasuke said staring at the direction Ino walked off to.

"You're not serious, right? Since when do you like girls?"

Sasuke shot him a look that could kill, "that didn't come out right." Naruto laughed.

"You think!?" Sasuke said smacking the back of Naruto's head.

The loud blonde rubbed the back of his head and said, "but seriously, what's your plan?"

"I'm gonna give her a shot." Sasuke told Naruto smugly.

--

"So what's the deal of those two?" Ino asked Shikamaru as they neared the classroom.

"Sasuke Uchiha's the most popular boy in school. Every girl wants him. And guys envy him." Shikamaru began.

"Oh, _that_ deal." Ino said as she pouted.

"Naruto's his best friend, but people tend to not look past his idiocy to see he's a really good guy." Shikamaru explained.

"Honestly, Naruto's kind of good looking too, you know him well?" Ino wondered.

"We hung out before…" Shikamaru waved the subject off.

"Continue…" Ino said now sitting on the seat she and Shikamaru had decided to claim.

"Well, Sasuke's always had fan girls and he didn't mind them, hated them in fact, until we reached highschool—well, eighth grade actually. He's usually never on a date with the same girl twice." Shikamaru began, "I don't think he's interested in anyone though, I think it's for his own amusement…"

"Shika! You're an analytical thinker. What have you observed about all this?" Ino pleaded.

"Do you like him, Ino?" Shikamaru asked amusedly.

"He seems like a loner…" Ino told him.

"Well, I think, he's just trying out the fangirls, to see if they like him past all the shallow reasons, kind of like a diamond in the ruff sort of thing. Maybe one of them isn't superficial." Shikamaru answered.

"When I say that you overthink things, I didn't know what I was saying!" Ino said chuckling, "you overthink things _way_ too much! Once a player, always a player…" Ino decided.

"Yeah, I guess…" Shikamaru said.

"Oh! There is one exception for that never the same girl rule…" Shikamaru started.

"Yeah?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

"The girls name is Sakura Haruno. She's got pink hair you'll never miss, she's been with Sasuke for a month now." Shikamaru began.

"Lucky her, then…" Ino laughed.

"Ino, tell me what you really think about Sasuke." Shikamaru pried. He knew her better.

"He seems like a nice guy. But I bet if we didn't meet under the circumstances we did, I wouldn't ever consider that. But if he wants to go by a superficial image, then he's no better than the rest." Ino told Shikamaru.

"So what's the bottom line, Ins?" the Nara questioned.

"I don't trust him."


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter for whoever wants it or likes this story. Enjoy.

* * *

For Ino, and maybe Shikamaru, the morning went by slowly. Her classes dragged on that Ino thought time stood still at one point—it was Geometry period. Her teacher lectured and wrote so slowly even the gears in her brain slowed down by like half. Thank God for lunch.

"Well that was the slowest morning ever." Ino said as she sat down on the table beside Shikamaru. Choji was also sitting with them. "I thought my brain cells would start dying and I'd become a vegetable…" she continued casually. Choji and Shikamaru chuckled.

"The morning wasn't _that_ bad." Shikamaru insisted.

"You didn't have geometry." Ino said abruptly and sarcastically.

"Ooh. Geometry in the morning? With Katsuyu-sensei? Damn." Choji said.

Ino nodded, "My gad. The woman's a hundred years old."

The 2 boys laughed. Shikamaru was glad she was acting like her old self. He also couldn't help but wonder if she would stay like that or if it was all an act. He'd find out sooner or later. It would put his mind at ease once and for all.

"Which period?" Choji asked.

"Third." Ino answered as she stuck her spoon in her mouth.

"OUCH."

The blonde nodded.

"…then she goes, is that your real hair color? I LOVE IT!" someone exclaims walking behind Ino and Shikamaru, "right, Hinata?" the high voice says, "HINATA!" she yells, "RIGHT?" she said bitchily. Shikamaru and Ino looked behind them, the girl supposedly named Hinata answers in a stutter, "y-yes, Sakura."

Ino rolled her eyes and went back at her food.

"Isnt that awesome, Ten?! A superstar said to me!" Sakura continued raving on. "Oh! Sasuke!" Sakura waved. Apparently Sasuke was straight ahead from Sakura's view and was approaching her with his group of friends—Naruto Uzumaki with Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuga.

"Oh, hey Sakura." Sasuke shrugged. The pink haired girl stopped herself from PDA-ing Sasuke right there. She knew it wouldn't please the Uchiha.

"HEY SAKURA!" Naruto said more enthusiastically.

"Oh. Hey." The pink-haired girl answered in a flat tone.

Sasuke was looking around the cafeteria for something interesting and then he spots Ino just a yard away from him. He approached her with just four steps.

"Hey, Ino…" he said all calm.

Ino currently had quite a spoonful of whatever she was eating, so her mouth was packed, she looked up at the person who called her with her cheeks all puffed up.

Sasuke couldn't help but grin at the adorable sight before him.

Ino squealed and quickly covered her mouth and began to chew her food quickly.

"What?" she hissed (but not in the most fierce way) after she gulped down a glass of water.

"Just saying hi…" Sasuke shrugged.

"Hi, then!" Ino replied quickly, making it known that she didn't want Sasuke's company. She immediately turned away from his gaze and focused on her food. Choji and Shikamaru also had their heads bowed down.

Sasuke raised one dark eyebrow, but he wouldn't give in. "So…" He began again.

"Sasuke what are you doing over there!" Sakura squeaked latching onto his arm. Ino winced at the pitchy sound of the Haruno's voice and took a peak at her, almost above herself clinging for dear life onto Sasuke Uchiha. The blonde also saw Sasuke make a face. One that was not very pleased.

"Come on over to our table!" Sakura said trying to pull him to the other side of the cafeteria. He glanced at Ino, then back at Sakura.

"Sakura, I—" Sasuke began trying to get himself out of the situation.

"—just go." Ino spat immediately. "I mean, you don't have business around these parts." She said, "Just go already." She continued, her back still facing toward him. Sasuke stared at her in surprise. Then she turns her head around to face him, "Clearly, you're friends are waiting for you." She said in a tone that he couldn't figure out. All he knew was that she didn't want him there. And she wanted him to know it and know it well.

Sakura pouted, impatiently waiting for Sasuke to move. "Fine." He said a bit harshly, "Let's go Sakura…" he said emotionless.

Ino sighed when he walked away. "Thank God!" She breathed. Choji stared at her wide-eyed. The blonde caught the gaze, "What?" she asked raising an eyebrow toward his direction.

"No one talks to Sasuke like that." Choji whispered. Shikamaru smirked because he knew Ino better than to care about what other people thought, or other people's stupid rules other than hers.

"I guess I'm not 'no one', then…" Ino answered quite arrogantly. Hell, she was proud of what and to who she mouthed off to. She couldn't wait to do it again.


	6. Chapter 6

I made this chapter longer, because Drunksonic said that the last chapter was short. Anyway, I dont like this one so much. I swear I got mind block, and just wrote whatever, so this chapter is sort of messy. But I promise, I'll make next chapter better. This chapter is dedicated to Yoruichi 'Ino'. :) Enjoy, read and review. Hope you like.

* * *

"Pretty bold move." Shikamaru said as he bit off his sandwich. His words caught Ino's attention, she snapped her head to her left and stared at him. Shikamaru could feel her stare piercing his being, he slowly turned his head to try and look at her.

Ino's stare wasn't a glaring one, it was more like watching him—observing. "You hunch when eat." Ino suddenly said, "I mean, everyone has to hunch when they eat at some point, but even after swallowing, you don't lean back…" She softly spoke.

"Why are you watching me?" Shikamaru said. Ino chuckled then she paused as her smile began to falter. She sighed as she rested her elbow on the table and leaned her chin to her palm and she let out a sigh. Choji stared at her peculiar attitude. Ino then shut her eyes then groaned. Choji looked at Shikamaru with a questioning looking. Shikamaru shook his head telling Choji that it wasn't anything big and mouthed, 'it's fine…she's okay…' Choji nodded.

"So, I take it…" Ino finally spoke after a few awkward chewing noises, "that Sakura's like really into Sasuke…?" Ino asked with a bored look on her face. Choji answered her question with a nod and a stuffed face.

"…and like Naruto's totally in love with Sakura and she's oblivious to it…?" She conintinued. Choji nodded again. That observation caught Shikamaru's attention so he looked at her and waited for more.

"And then, like Sasuke's just toying with her?"

"Mhmm…" Shikamaru answered this time. Then Ino let out an exasperated sigh, "The poor girl…" the blonde mumbled while stuffing mashed potatoes in her mouth.

The two boys shrugged at her sudden change in attitude.

"Anyway, so you've got History next right, Ins?" Shikamaru asked her. The blonde nodded.

"You gonna be alright?" He was making sure. Ino rolled her eyes, "Shika, I went through Geometry this morning without you there, I think History, wont be as painful." The blonde answered sarcastically.

Shikamaru and Choji chuckled, "I can walk her," Choji suggested, "my Speech class is just two doors down from her room…"

The Nara turned his head to Ino and gave her a look, "Sure, why not?" Ino shrugged. Shikamaru gave an approving smile to Choji, and they finished up the rest of the meal chatting animatedly at random topics that would come up.

--

All the way on the other side of the cafeteria.

"Naruto" Tenten whispered, "Yeah?" the blonde boy snapped his head toward her. They inched closer so that their talk would remain private. "Who was that, Sasuke went up to?" she asked.

"New girl." Naruto replied softly.

"What's her deal?"

"We don't know yet. All we know, or all I know is, that she's good friends with Shikamaru and she's not too fond of Sasuke and anything that has to do with him…" Naruto told her.

Tenten covered her mouth, "Oh fuck." She cursed under her breath, "Sasuke likes her doesn't he?" Tenten asked her voice shaking just a little. Naruto nodded lightly. "He always wants what he can't have." Tenten told Naruto.

"You got that right."

--

The bell rang and it was time for the students to get to their respective classes. "So I'll meet you in Chemistry later?" Shikamaru asked Ino as they stood up from their table. The blonde nodded with a smile on her face.

"You want me to come pick you up?" He offered. Ino thought about it, "Well…I have an idea where the class will be, but…why not?" She shrugged. Shikamaru nodded, "How bout, let's meet by our lockers?" He suggested, "It's in between your Histo and my Geom rooms…"

"Yeah, I'll see you there then…" Ino said dumping her tray.

"Let's bounce, Choji." She grinned at the chubby boy. Shikamaru smiled and parted from his two friends. 'God, I hope she doesn't have a nervous breakdown or anything like that…' Shikamaru thought remembering what Ino's mom had told him.

"_2 years ago, she had her first nervous breakdown in school…" Ino's mom told him._

"_In school? So she's had breakdowns before?" He asked._

_She nodded, "She'd cry for hours in her room. When she was ready, she'd come talk to me. That's how we'd handle it. But usually, she likes being on her own. I know that she's strong but this is too much for her. Please take care of her. And hopefully, get through to her about confiding in other people."_

"_It's hard for her to trust other people, Aunt Alessa." Shikamaru said. She nodded, "But I promise, come school I'll help her out."_

"_Thank You. Now, Ino's going to be coming down in a while, I'll tell you all about what happened 2 years ago, so you have something to watch out for…"_

"She'll be fine, she's strong." Shikamaru decided as he got to his classroom.

--

"Here's your classroom, Ino." Choji announced as he showed her the door. She gave him a smile, "Thanks for walking me, Choji." She thanked him, "I'll see you around, kay?" She smiled. The Akimichi nodded, and Ino made her way to the classroom and Choji walked to his room.

She found a seat in the 2nd to the last row by the window and then she claimed it as hers. She let out a sigh, "I wonder how this class is going to be like. I hope it isn't boring…"

"What is this?! It sucks!" A familiar squeaky voice could be heard from the door, then distinct tenor laughter was heard along with the whining, and then a few other mixed laughter.

"Wheat grass candy, I'm sorry…I did it to everyone." The familiar male voice said, laughter evident in his tone.

Ino snapped her head to the entrance, and, as if like the Underworld's gates opened for her, the whole entourage of the people she despised walked in.

Sakura with a look on her face, that wasn't so pleasant. Probably because of the wheatgrass candy, Sasuke following in after her, laughing at her reaction from eating the candy. Naruto closely behind, along with Tenten and Hinata, and then Kiba. Neji was in a Calculus class.

"Oh shit…" Ino groaned.

When Sasuke entered the room, he scanned it then caught sight of Ino covering head with her arms, head resting on her desk as if she had a big problem. The Uchiha smirked at this, he leaned back just a little and whispered to his best friend, "Guess who got the luck of the draw for this class?"

Naruto followed his gaze then spotted Ino, "Jackpot." He grinned.

Sasuke nodded smugly, then he began to approach her.

In her mind Ino was thinking, _please leave me alone, I need energy for class. I don't need this._ She kept reciting it over and over.

"Well, well, well…Ino Yamanaka…" She heard beside her.

Ino's eyes shot open, but she didn't move from her 'hiding' position.

"NO WAY!" she blurted out.


	7. Chapter 7

Wow. It took me about 2 months to update this story. I apologize for the long wait to thos who actually like this story. (I'm growing to liking this a bit more.)  
So, **spoilers** (because I do not want to write an ending Author's Note...)  
You MIGHT notice my writing style has changed ever so slightly. I dunno if its noticeable, but I think it's changed A BIT. And in this chapter, it's not all about Ino. This time, it's Sasuke. I noticed very few SasuIno's are written where Sasuke's the priority. :P Just an observation.

Anyway, ENJOY. :D  
ilovepeoplewhoreview.

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She looked up to the person who was standing beside her and a smile spread across her face, "Temari!" She exclaimed happily. The darker blonde grinned, "What are you doing here?!" Ino asked her happily.

"School hopping or whatever…I'm here to promote something from my school to…here." Temari answered passively. "I'm just here for the day."

Temari and Ino knew each other from a spa that they both go to. Ino needed to get massages, and she and Temari always seemed to be there the same time. Temari had the ability to read her like an open book. The first time they spoke to each other, she knew Ino had a problem. A really big problem; so she told Ino she knew she had a problem and gave her advice on how to cope with it. She was one of the few people Ino liked.

"Aww. That's too bad…" Ino said. Temari shrugged.

Sasuke was approaching Ino when he stopped in his tracks immediately when he saw Temari. "shiiiiit" he cursed under his breath in a high voice (yes, with the prolonged 'I'). Then he backed up a few steps, up until the front of the classroom and then bumped Naruto.

"Dude, you're back." The blonde stated as he saw Sasuke when he spun around to see who had bumped him.

"Yeah…" Sasuke muttered angrily in a low tone.

"What's up?" Naruto asked concernedly picking up on Sasuke's attitude quickly.

"She's talking to that girl. Gaara's sister." Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth. His eyes never left the two blonde conversing. He was staring daggers at Temari.

His blue-eyed best friend looked rather confused at what was happening. How did Ino know Gaara's older sister? And a much better question would be what was she doing here? She wasn't even in the same year as they were and she definitely did not study in their school.

"What's she doing here?" Sasuke hissed.

Naruto shrugged extremely spaced out, "I-I don't know, their family doesn't even go to this school."

"Don't sweat it. She's here on council business." Tenten, who suddenly appeared beside them out of nowhere, calmly explained to the boys.

Sasuke and Naruto jerked involuntarily on alarm. Tenten giggled at this, "Dude, what the hell!?" Naruto screeched.

"Where the fuck did you pop out of?" Sasuke spat just as annoyed as Naruto. Tenten rolled her eyes and let slide the rudeness of the two boys and went along in answering their questions. Although it wasn't of any help, she went on. "That doesn't matter." She waved them off, "just don't think about it too much."

The 2 rolled their eyes and turned their backs on her.

--

"So, what are you promoting?" Ino inquired as Temari claimed an empty seat beside her.

"Ah, some school band thing…" Temari answered in a very bored tone resting her cheek on her palm.

"You're the SC Vice-President, how could you not know what you're promoting?!" Ino held back amused laughter.

Temari chuckled, "I do, I do…" She said as if she was fighting a headache—slightly slurred speech and everything, "it's just, don't make me think about it now. You'll hear all about it later…" Temari bargained for Ino to stop pressing the subject.

"Okay, okay." Ino stopped, "But, of all subjects, why History?"

The darker blonde shrugged, "Hey, the said after lunch…and I drew this class first…I'm promoting to 4 other classes." Temari explained. Ino had plans of interrupting but Temari beat her to it, "all the classes I'm going to has an SC rep or SC committee member attending…it's your school's council's job to promote further what I'm promoting." She explained.

"Gotcha." Ino winked as she flashed Temari a smile.

--

The smile didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke Uchiha. Neither did the wink. He enjoyed watching her, observing her, trying to figure her out…but to his downfall, he never knew what she was going to throw at him. That made him somewhat excited.

"Yo, how does new girl know Ms. Thing over there?" Naruto asked Sasuke as they walked over to the corner of the classroom to converse privately.

Temari was known to have quite an attitude. Whether it be her drama queen mode, her I'm-the-boss-of-you-so-follow-what-I-say mode, her bitch mode, crazy bitch mode or whatever else mode she goes into, she was dubbed Ms. Thing because no one contradicts anything she does or says.

"How should I know?" Sasuke retorted distastefully.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously, "This whole Ino thing…" the blonde began, Sasuke carefully turned his head and faced his best friend. "There's no silver lining." He says with a heavy heart, "It's not lookin' so good. The force isn't with you, bro."

Sasuke groaned in frustration. He covered his face with his hands as he tried to calm himself down. "Just shut it, Naruto." He spat angrily.

But this time, Naruto refused to go down without a fight. Sasuke has done this too many times that Naruto couldn't just stand back and let it all happen again. He was sick and tired of how that cycle went around, and he felt obligated to fix it.

"No. Sasuke," he began sternly, "You always do this. Why are you always chasing what you can't catch? Why do you always want the things you can't have?!" Suddenly, Naruto Uzumaki sounded so grown up. "You keep doing this to yourself, and I always sit back and let you do your thing. I see you always going for it, but you end up crushed with all that effort and no prize, Sasuke! You want the things that make your life complicated. Everything is easily laid out in front of you, man! You just have to roll with it. What you're doing, you're pressing an issue that should be remained untouched! You always do! You like making your life hard. Stop doing that to yourself!" He lectured.

Sasuke listened silently and was caught off guard. Naruto knew him inside out, and he would never say anything to intentionally (and un mockingly/sarcastically) hurt Sasuke. Never. He was always there as a helping hand and sidekick. And he did make a good point. Naruto always watched out for Sasuke. It was a no fail deal.

"I'm sorry man…" Sasuke said silently.

Naruto nodded.

"Bro, you have to understand…it's painful to watch you. I mean, entertaining, but painful." Naruto admitted honestly.

Sasuke shook his head, "I know, I know." He ran a hand through his long bangs. "But, dude, I'm really intrigued by this girl. I mean, I wanna get to know her. She's one of those cryptic, hard to read girls. There's something to her…I wanna be the Sherlock Holmes to that."

"Man, I think you're whipped and you're not even dating her…"

"Am not…and please, it's me. I don't get easily persuaded to doing things for others." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I get where you're coming from." Naruto concurred, "Let me rephrase my previous statement…" He then began, going all law-firm mode on Sasuke—which till this days surprises him, that his best friend is knowledgeable and able to play around with the English vocabulary—"Sasuke, I think…no, **I know** it to be true, you're _obsessed_ with her."


End file.
